$1.7 Million Awarded to 7 Plant Workers : Lawsuit: Jury finds that chemical firms failed to provide adequate warnings on products used by Lockheed employees.

After two trials spanning two years, a Los Angeles jury Tuesday awarded seven Lockheed workers an estimated $1.7 million in damages after finding that a group of chemical companies failed to provide adequate warnings about products used by workers to build the Stealth fighter and other aircraft at the aerospace giant’s former Burbank complex.

The verdict in the marathon toxic exposure case involved seven “pilot” plaintiffs from a group of 624 past and present Lockheed employees. The awards announced Tuesday ranged from $708,600 for a former worker, who jurors concluded suffered brain and nerve damage as a result of chemical exposure, to $4,500 for an employee who was exposed to chemicals but suffered no serious injuries.

Lawyers from both sides had previously said they hoped a verdict in the case would guide future settlements. But Tuesday’s mixed verdict raised the prospect of years-more litigation to resolve the remaining claims. Superior Court Judge Richard C. Hubbell scheduled an Aug. 5 conference to set a trial date for the next 15 workers.

“We’re going to keep pressing on with these cases,” said Brian C. Gonzalez, an attorney representing the workers.

Gonzalez said it was “terrific” that most of the eight chemical company defendants “were found to be the cause of these people’s injuries.”

Nonetheless, Laurence F. Janssen, an attorney who represented chemical giants Du Pont and Ashland, said he did not believe Tuesday’s verdict would lead to future settlements. And he said the verdict supported defense contentions that Lockheed--which had earlier reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the workers--was mainly responsible, by failing to protect its employees.

The case stemmed from illnesses allegedly caused by solvents, primers and epoxies used to build aircraft in the 1970s and ‘80s. The workers claimed they suffered ailments ranging from eye and skin irritations to cancer because chemical suppliers did not adequately explain the health risks or necessary safety precautions.

The original trial began in August, 1992, and ended nearly nine months later in a hung jury.

The retrial, which began in February, initially pitted 14 pilot plaintiffs against 20 chemical companies. By Tuesday, however, claims of seven of the plaintiffs had been dismissed and a dozen of the chemical firms either reached settlements or were exonerated.

Two of the remaining 10 chemical companies, J.T. Baker Inc. and Dexter Corp., settled with the workers for an undisclosed amount after the first phase of the second trial left them liable for punitive damages, said Thomas V. Girardi, an attorney representing the Lockheed employees.

Of the eight remaining chemical company defendants, the jury found that seven--including Du Pont and General Electric--failed to adequately warn of the dangers of their products. Ashland Chemical Co. was cleared in five of the workers’ cases and a mistrial was declared for the remaining two workers after the jury was unable to reach a majority verdict.

Companies held responsible for providing inadequate warnings will pay all the economic damages, which are awarded to compensate for loss of work as a result of injuries, and they will also pay a percentage of the non-economic damages, which are awarded for pain and suffering, Girardi said.

The jury awarded three of the workers an estimated $1.6 million in economic damages and awarded all seven just over $100,000 in non-economic damages.

The most severe case was that of George Wilson, who was awarded $647,300 in economic damages. “George Wilson’s injuries are such that when he goes to the store he can’t find the house he lived in for 20 years,” Gonzalez said.

But the jurors found the companies liable for only a small share of the non-economic damages, deciding that Lockheed was 80% to 86% responsible for these.

Lockheed will not have to pay any of those damages, however, because the workers already agreed to accept a $33-million settlement from the company, to be shared among all the defendants in proportion to their injuries.

The Lockheed settlement averaged about $37,500 for each worker, with some garnering more than $100,000 apiece because they were alleged to have developed cancer or to have died as a result of their exposure to the chemicals.

“They (Lockheed) didn’t pass on any of the material safety data sheet information to the workers,” said Frank Serrano, jury foreman. “It was the predominant mistake.”

Serrano said that for the most part, the other chemical companies provided adequate warnings, but that non-economic damages for pain and suffering were awarded mostly because carcinogens, cancer-causing agents, were contained in the chemicals they manufactured.

The retrial had been broken down into two phases in an attempt to simplify the proceedings after the original trial, which lasted eight months, then ended in a mistrial after 12 weeks of jury deliberations.

“This is a landmark case,” Judge Richard C. Hubbell told jurors Tuesday after their verdicts were announced. “You will be known as the good Lockheed jury.”